The Yahoo! doc

A group of medical practitioners is set to make you shimmy like Shammi today

Some of the city’s best urologists, ophthalmologists, gynaecologists, pathologists and cardiologists will be coming under one roof today. But, they will not be discussing any medical breakthrough. These doctors are part of a musical group called the Tuning Folks and, at Birla Matoshree Sabhagriha, they will be showcasing their vocal talent.

“We are presenting a Shammi Kapoor Musical Night this Sunday and this is our 26th performance. We sing to raise money for charity and this time, we have associated ourselves with the cause of Child Abuse Awareness. The event has been put together by Prime Education Health Learning (PEHL) Services, a non-profit organisation,” says Dr Anil Bradoo, a urologist, also the founder and chairperson of Tuning Folks.

From a self-sponsored show at Chembur Gymkhana with an audience consisting of mainly friends and relatives, to a full-blown concert at NCPA last month, the group has come a long way in three years. “We used to hold casual music sessions at our house and then, one day, we thought of reaching out to a wider audience.

Initially, we were just the six of us and organised shows on our own and eventually several charitable trusts started calling us. We perform for free and also try to educate the audience on the cause through small multimedia presentations before we start the show,” he elaborates. Most of this 16-member group are self trained and the credit goes to music arranger and conductor Ajay Madan for getting the motley group in tune. “He has been with us from the first show. We perform with a live orchestra and he knows exactly how to play to our individual strengths.” On straddling their busy lives as doctors with their part-time careers as singers, Dr Bradoo says, “We are all senior consultants and do not have to attend to emergency cases as such. Instead of spending our Sundays at some city club or watching a movie, we rehearse or put up a show.” He adds that the group has already had two live performances on Doordarshan.